


When you look at me that way

by crookedcrown



Series: Please forgive me, if I act a little strange [2]
Category: The Old Guard (Comics), The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:00:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25373539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crookedcrown/pseuds/crookedcrown
Summary: Sometimes, when the mood suits, Joe and Nicky pretend to be strangers meeting for the first time.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: Please forgive me, if I act a little strange [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837468
Comments: 54
Kudos: 525





	When you look at me that way

He could always spot Joe in a crowd, even from a great distance. Maybe especially so. He suspects it’s a combination of spending years staring down a scope, and even longer memorising the slope and breadth of Joe’s shoulders, the elegant line of his neck, the way his head tilts when he’s deep in thought.   
  
But here, this late Wednesday morning, there are not many people around. He sees him crouched low to the ground. A finger running along the spine of books, his dark eyes narrowed in concentration.  
  
He’s wearing the navy blue overcoat he had bought last week when they landed into the beginnings of a New York winter. He liked how deep the pockets were. “Look at all my snacks,” he had proudly showed off. But of course, Nicky doesn’t know any of this. Here, he is just a man watching another man at a bookstore...  
  
Nicky waits until this man finds what he’s looking for. He watches as he stands in one easy motion. The strength of this body, Nicky thinks. The control.  
  
He’s busy thumbing through the pages when Nicky steps out, bumps into him, and knocks the book from his hand. Whatever he’s about to say in annoyance dies in his throat when he sees Nicky drop to his knee. “My apologies,” Nicky smiles, and hands the book back.  
  
Their fingertips brush against each other. “Thank you.” There’s a breathlessness to his voice, that Nicky is always pleased to hear.  
  
And maybe Nicky stays here on his knee a beat longer than is necessary, who is to say.  
  
They introduce themselves. Josef and Nico meet with a handshake.   
  
They are slow to let go.

  
  
They leave the store together, walking with no particular destination in mind. They talk about books they’ve read, films they’ve seen, places they have travelled. In the stretch of time, things that don’t really matter, and yet they do. If you listen closely enough, Nicky has learned, they reveal the character of a person. Their values, their morality.  
  
They hear children's laughter, and when they round the corner they see a playground. They slow their steps to savour the sound. It is not often they get to witness this kind of happiness.  
  
“Do you want children?” Maybe this is not the question you ask when you first meet, but, honestly, Joe and Nicky have not had a lot of experience. He thinks of a non-descript house, the patter of little feet and the shrieks of delight. Joe would make a wonderful father. Protective, playful. But...  
  
“I don’t think it is the path for me,” he says. Nicky lets himself feel the loss of it, just for a moment. He feels Josef’s eyes on him. When Nicky meets his gaze, he offers a gentle smile. “Do you want a family?”  
  
Josef seems to consider this before he says, “I have a family.”  
  
Joe likes to sprout metaphors when a simple yes would have sufficed. He enjoys the flowery turns of phrases, and long run-on sentences that feel antiquated now. It reveals his age in a way his face and body never will. It always moves Nicky, to see the light in Joe’s eyes, to hear the peaks and troughs of Joe’s voice. But it is often when Joe is at his most frank that it strikes something soft and tender inside Nicky.  
  
_I have a family.  
  
_Their fingers brush against each other - once, twice. And then Josef takes his hand, fingers intertwined. There had been times when such a gesture was an act of defiance in the face of ugly words and even uglier hearts. But here, this is just for them.  
  
“Cold?” Josef asks and when Nicky nods, he tucks their clasped hands into his oversized pocket.  
  
  
  
They’re sitting on a bench. Shoulders brushing against each other as they continue to talk. Josef is eating gelato out of a small paper cup, despite having complained about the cold many times earlier. Nicky smiles as he nurses his watery hot chocolate, watching Joe’s face.  
  
Like Andy, Joe developed a very strong sweet tooth. And though his palette wasn’t quite so finessed, where he was able to pick the location of every ingredient, he had certainly tasted more than his fair share. But unlike Andy, who enjoyed anything as long as it was syrupy and sweet, Joe abhorred artificial sweeteners and flavourings.  
  
Gelato though? Joe loves gelato.  
  
They had been at a cafe in Paris, sometime in the 17th century, when Joe learned of it. Had watched with great interest as a waiter walked past with two scoops in a glass bowl.  
  
“Oh, my love,” Joe had murmured softly between bites.  
  
Nicky propped his elbow on the table and rested his cheek on his hand. “Are you talking to me or your dessert?”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
Nicky rolled his eyes as it took Joe a moment to remember where he was. “Of course you,” Joe had said towards Nicky, but his eyes had already slid back to the gelato.  
  
Later, when Nicky no longer had to compete for Joe’s affections, Joe pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. His lips were cold and sticky.  
  
  
  
“I could eat this at any time.” Josef says, perhaps mostly to himself.  
  
Nicky observes the people around them, puffed up by the layers of clothes they were wearing, scarves wrapped tightly around their necks. “Well, you are certainly proving your point.” Nicky agrees, basking in the warmth of Josef’s smile.  
  
“Here.” Josef lifts his tiny plastic spoon with a slither of gelato on it towards Nicky. This was actually quite generous of Joe, who had a tendency to hoard his treats like a dragon with gold.  
  
After some consideration, Nicky flicks his tongue out like a lizard.  
  
“Why...” He’s not looking at Joe, but he can hear the disappointment and slight arousal in his voice.  
  
“Come on,” Nicky says and rises to his feet. He takes Joe’s elbow, coaxing him to do the same.  
  
Nicky guides them to somewhere more private. “Nico?” Josef says as he is pressed up against a wall. Nicky wants so badly to stick his cold hands under Joe’s sweater to feel the flex of his muscles, the warmness of his skin. Joe runs hot. A physical manifestation of the ferocious passion that burns inside him, perhaps. Whatever its reasons, it was a burden Nicky had to bear when they stayed in warmer, humid climates, but was then justly rewarded when the temperatures dropped.  
  
Instead Nicky cups Josef’s handsome face, and presses their lips together. It’s slow and gentle. Their lips chapped from the biting wind. He leans back just enough to see the fondness and affection in his eyes.  
  
“Oh, how sweet,” Josef says, resting his hand on Nicky’s waist. “Our first kiss.”

**Author's Note:**

> I can't promise there will be more, but I also can't confidently say this is the end. Is there anything you would like to see? I'm open to ideas/suggestions. Let's strike while this iron is hot.


End file.
